This invention relates to an improved dental holder. More particularly, the invention relates to a holder, the construction of which is adapted to support a toothbrush and which also may support a tube of toothpaste.
Various types of toothbrush holders or combined toothbrush and toothpaste tube holders have been described in the patent literature. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,310,089 to Rhodes describes a cruciform holder having a pair of horizontal arms, each ending with a circular loop, and a casing for covering a toothbrush. U.S. Pat. No. 1,335,250 to Lippert discloses a holder formed of a strand of wire, a portion of which is bent to form a loop, another portion being twisted to form a pair of parallel wires comprising a lateral slot. U.S. Pat. No. 1,652,862 covers a horizontal plate-shaped device, the lower portion of which is provided with a transverse slot having a clip inserted therein. U.S. Pat. No. 1,695,185 to Gale discloses a holder made of a single wire, the upper ends of which are bent back upon themselves to form split eyes and its lower ends are turned to form a horizontal V-shaped recess. U.S. Pat. No. 2,472,058 to Artley describes a holder comprising a pair of spring hooks for its attachment to the edge portion of a shelf, a lateral curved end portion and another pair of hooks extending downwardly therefrom. U.S. Pat. No. 2,522,470 to Tideman shows a tubular holder having a plurality of spaced slots and adapted to support toothbrushes in either vertical or horizontal position. U.S. Pat. No. 2,957,584 to Jenkins describes a disposable folding collapsible rack made of paper tag stock having a number of slugs which have to be pushed out to provide openings for toothbrushes. U.S. Pat. No. 3,085,716 to Trattler discloses a combination tube holder constructed of wire and provided with a winding key for dispensing toothpaste.
While the aforementioned patents disclose the general concept of holding devices having different forms for toothbrushes alone or in combination with collapsible tubes of toothpaste, the holder of this invention provides a new approach to the structure of such device which offers certain advantages over the prior art devices.